Firefighters jam legislature to honour fallen colleague; province announces new mental-health support for first responders

Close to 200 firefighters and family members of the late Preston Heinbigner packed the Manitoba legislature Monday to pay tribute to their colleague and loved one as the government announced more help for the helpers is on the way.

The 40-year-old firefighter, husband and father died by suicide earlier this month, sparking calls for better mental-health supports for first responders.

“His family has bravely asked that we recognize the immense challenges first responders face,” former firefighter and NDP MLA David Pankratz told the house.

“Their roles demand intense emotional resiliency as they bear witness to life’s fragility and offer comfort during our darkest times,” Pankratz (Waverley) said.

Routine proceedings of the assembly were suspended to honour the late firefighter’s dedication to helping Manitobans.

A government press release announced that the province is funding three counsellors dedicated to providing mental-health support to firefighters, paramedics and law-enforcement officers.

Pankratz — whose private member’s bill declaring May 4 as Firefighters Recognition Day has sailed through the house — said he knows first-hand that more help is needed for first responders, even if they don’t always admit it.

“We need a commitment across our ranks to be honest and open about needing help,” he said, before a moment of silence was observed.

“The work we do exposes us to relentless stress and trauma.… True resiliency is found when we break the silence and make space to share the quiet battles within us.”

Afterward, the firefighters at the legislature formed an impromptu honour guard on the grand staircase as Heinbigner’s family — including his widow Shayda Tashakor — exited the building for a ceremony across the street in Memorial Park.

“Today, it was just really important for us to be here for Shayda and the family who lost a hero in Preston, and to say, ‘We’re not just here with words, we’re here with action,’” Premier Wab Kinew told reporters.

Details surrounding the three additional counsellors are still being worked out with representatives of firefighters, paramedics and police, Kinew said.

“What we’re envisioning here is an additional layer of support,” with regular check-ins for first responders with an appointed mental-health professional, he said.

“This tragedy puts into very stark detail the challenges around (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other mental-health issues that people are living through.

“One of the challenges that we’ve heard is that sometimes making that step to go out and seek the mental-health professional can be a big barrier. If we just normalize it and we say it’s a normal part of duty for folks to go in and debrief and have a conversation with this person — where we remove one additional barrier — maybe that’s going to help one more person.”

The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals said the government’s announcement is a “welcome step” and that it has called for dedicated 24-7 access to trauma-informed counselling for first responders.

“Manitoba paramedics and emergency medical dispatchers deal with trauma all the time,” the association said in a statement. “They don’t get the supports they need.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca